iCruise.com, one of the largest sellers of cruises in the U.S., needed a total communications solution with both hosted phone service and a cloud contact center. Only 8x8 was able to deliver a complete, integrated solution.

8x8 Unifies Phone, Conferencing and Contact Center Features for a Growing Global Enterprise

Replicon is a leading provider of cloud-based time tracking applications. With 1.5 million users worldwide and offices all over the globe, this international company turned to 8x8 for a scalable, unified communications solution.

Premises-Based PBX Can’t Scale to Provide Global Support

In just the last two years alone, Replicon has opened two new offices and moved some existing offices to larger quarters. And with the company’s domestic and international growth showing no signs of slowing down, the prospect of supporting an increasing number of users and locations posed a challenge for Global IT Director Neal Alberda.

His team maintained the company’s premises-based PBX, and it just wasn’t designed for global deployment. “Our previous PBX actually worked well,” says Alberda, “but we had to maintain a voice gateway at every location. Device costs were high because we had to buy expensive phones whenever we hired new personnel, and reconfiguring the system every time we moved or added a user was time consuming.”

Contact Center, Industry Leadership and Global Reach Set 8x8 Apart

Alberda realized Replicon needed a more scalable phone system, and because the company is such a strong proponent of cloud-based solutions in all areas, he decided it was time they practiced what they preached for phone service.

In early 2013 he began researching hosted business VoIP providers—and 8x8 immediately stood out for three reasons. First, 8x8 offers a complete suite of hosted solutions, including a Virtual Contact Center. “We needed a comprehensive solution: phones, online meetings and call centers,” explains Alberda. “8x8 is really the only hosted VoIP provider out there that can integrate a virtual call center into their service.”

Second, 8x8 is recognized as an industry leader by well-known market experts and analysts. “I’m a big believer in the Gartner Magic Quadrant,’” says Alberda, referring to a 2012 Gartner report that listed 8x8 as a leader in unified communications as a service. “It’s an impressive achievement when a service provider makes the cut.”

Third, 8x8′s Global Reach initiative enables customers to use international virtual numbers in 50 countries. “Replicon is a global company that needs a local presence in all our markets,” says Alberda. “8x8 enables our presence at very affordable rates.”

“We needed a comprehensive solution: phones, online meetings and call centers. 8x8 is really the only hosted VoIP provider out there that can integrate a virtual call center into their service.”Neal Alberda, Global IT Director at Replicon

Video Conferencing Helps Recruit Top Talent Worldwide

With 8x8 hosted VoIP service now deployed at all six Replicon offices, the company is realizing many benefits from its unified communications. Among them are a centralized contact directory and four-digit extension dialing, which make it easy for users to reach colleagues at other company offices.

Another major benefit is video conferencing. Along with hundreds of standard 8x8 VoIP phones, Replicon purchased several dozen video phones. Some are used by senior management; the rest are installed in “interview rooms” where managers in one country can conduct face-to-face interviews with prospective employees in another.

This advanced capability helps Replicon recruit top talent worldwide. “Although we’re a growing global company, we still like to have that face-to-face contact when we’re making hiring decisions,” says Alberda. “With 8x8 video conferencing, we can bring new employees on board with confidence.”

Virtual Contact Center Unites Agents Worldwide

Replicon has also rolled out two 8x8 Virtual Contact Centers: one for customer support and the other for inbound sales. The customer support agents all work at the same facility, but the inbound sales agents are distributed across all offices.

8x8′s cloud-based call center software makes it all possible. “The flexibility of 8x8′s Virtual Contact Center lets us assemble a diverse team of agents in multiple countries,” says Alberda. Citing recent floods in Calgary where his own office is located, Alberda notes that 8x8′s flexibility helps ensure business continuity because agents can work remotely when necessary.

Cloud-Based Services Simplify Moves and Adds

As Replicon continues to grow, Alberda believes the company’s migration to 8x8 cloud-based services will significantly lift the burden of maintenance and changes from his IT team. “Moving offices and adding headcount will be faster, easier and less expensive for us. With our premises-based PBX, adding just one new user took 1,000 configurations!” he jokes. “8x8′s hosted VoIP service is a lot more nimble. It’s got the complete suite of features we need and the scalability to keep up with us.”